Elderly housing association residents are helping beat climate change with our EverGreen project.

The EverGreen project was designed to enable specific community groups, such as housing association residents, to make a positive contribution to the future of the environment.

The first EverGreen project was a partnership between Global Action Plan and Hanover housing association, in the London Borough of Hackney. 

Watch our video about EverGreen in Hackney

Background

Hanover manages 29 retirement and extra care supported living schemes across Hackney for 850 tenants of pensionable age. 

The project was set up in response to requests from resident board members, who wanted to contribute positively towards the environment through a range of stimulating sociable activities. 

Joining forces as EcoTeams

Residents and staff were consulted and began to form EverGreen EcoTeams, in which they could discuss environmental issues and opportunities to take action. 

The environmentally-themed discussions covered global and local issues and resulted in a wide range of locally relevant environmental activities being agreed and taken on by residents.

This process ensured that the activities decided by each group were most relevant to their particular situation and that Hanover staff and local service providers and community groups were involved to maximise sustainability and effectiveness.   

The groups that were set up in Hanover were mostly made up of pensioners and popular activities focussed around recycling, growing food and intergenerational activities. 

Recycling

EcoTeam members wanted to make sure they had adequate recycling facilities and fully understood how to use them.

Working with the recycling team from the London Borough of Hackney (LBH), Global Action Plan ensured facilities were installed. LBH's Recycling Officer was also enlisted and attended EcoTeam meetings to answer residents' questions. 

Growing food

Concerned about food miles and wasteful packaging, residents discussed how they used to grow their own vegetables, a practice which didn’t impact adversely on the environment. 

Many felt they were no longer able to do this as it meant struggling to bend down to tend plants. In response Global Action Plan created raised beds in 15 sheltered schemes and an active community of resident gardeners emerged. 

Enabling residents to grow their own food has had many benefits, from reducing food miles, packaging and the use of harmful pesticides, to bringing down CO2 emissions. 

Intergenerational activities

A discussion around the idea that older people often have environmentally-friendly habits raised the issue of how the young might deal with future environmental problems. This prompted us to arrange an intergenerational exchange between the EverGreen EcoTeams and a local secondary school. 

The schoolchildren's visit to one of the Hanover schemes was a great success, not only in terms of environmental discussion, but also in helping break down barriers between the two groups. In fact, since the meeting residents have reported bumping into the children on the bus and enjoying a friendly chat.

We really enjoyed spending time with the children. We didn’t know how it would work out at first as young people sometimes don’t get on with older people but they were so polite and well-mannered. We shared lots of ideas about the environment and what we can do to help. They even invited us to visit them at school.

Margaret Koroidovi, Hanover resident. 

Results

• 340 Hanover residents have taken environmental action as a direct result of the project. 
• 28 tonnes of household waste in the first year was recycled and diverted from landfill, saving 34 tonnes of CO2.

The programme has brought noticeable improvements to the residents' quality of life: 

• team work and knowledge sharing have increased
• residents are now more physically active 
• improvements to emotional health have also been reported
• the physical environment has been considerably enhanced
• there is greater confidence and understanding between generations

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